From Fame to Ruin

4.5 stars

Thank you to the author for providing me with an ecopy in exchange for my honest review. I beta read this book for the author a year or so ago now and when the author sent it to me for this final review I had completely forgotten everything. Once I started reading again I kept having these oh yeah I remember that now moments but it was like I was reading this for the first time again. 

This is a standalone romantic thriller and it's told from alternating points of view as well as alternating timelines. I also want to point out some trigger warnings. There is violence, overdose and child abuse among others so be aware of that going in. 

I liked the alternating POVs between Ricardo and Carol. We get to learn a lot about them and everything they've gone through as well as why they made some of the decisions they made. I also enjoyed the alternating timelines. In the past you learn how Carol and Ricardo meet and what happens between them and in the present you see how they navigate things. I will say that in the beginning the pacing wasn't as steady going when switching between the timelines. The past was very mellow and steady, and the present was fast paced. I understand why it was this way but it just kind of threw me off a little bit I guess. I found myself really wanting to get back to the present chapters. 

I loved the found family aspect. All of the people Carol surrounded herself with were amazing. I wouldn't mind reading books about them in the future. There were some things that were briefly talked about in this book that I would have liked to have seen something happen with but that's just a personal preference thing. I like to see everyone get what they deserve. I'm trying to be as vague as possible because I don't want to spoil anything. The only other thing that would have made it even better would have been to get a little bit more of Ricardo and Carol in the present together. 

I don't typically read a whole lot of romantic suspense but I really enjoyed this story. I feel like the romance and the suspense were well balanced and I recommend you give this book a read if it sounds like something you would be interested in.